The Current - 45 years later, Terry Fox’s brother is riding across Canada

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

45 years ago, Terry Fox set out to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. He made it more than 5,000 kilometres before cancer forced him to stop. This summer, his brother Darrell Fox is cycling coast to coast to honour that journey and raise funds through the Ride of Hope. We speak with Fred Fox, Terry's older brother, about what it means to see that legacy continue.

Ten years ago, I asked my partner Kelsey if she would marry me. I did that, despite the fact that every living member of my family who had ever been married had also gotten divorced. Forever is a Long Time is a five-part series in which I talk to those relatives about why they got divorced and why they got married. You can listen to it now on CBC's Personally. This is a CBC Podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is the current podcast. Let's go back to 1980 when a young man from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, told a reporter how he was inspired to run after losing his leg to cancer. A friend of mine came into my room, showed me an article of a guy from New York who ran

with one leg, and I told myself then if he could run, one day I'd be able to run too. And then I had a dream that came into my head that one day I'd try and run across Canada. And during that time I saw a lot of other people dying of cancer, people my age, and the effects of chemotherapy and radiation, and I decided I would try and run across Canada. ed Against all odds, Terry Fox did try to run across Canada. He started in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and his goal was to raise a dollar for every Canadian for cancer research. Here's the late CBC broadcaster Rick Rick Clough, catching up with Terry Fox on the road

in his first weeks of his run. Terry Fox is on the road, some 190 miles along on his journey, and on the telephone with us tonight from Gamble, Newfoundland. Hello, Terry, how are you doing? I'm doing pretty good. How's it gone so far? You've been on the road just over a week.

Well, it's gone really great so far. The first three days were really tough because one thing our van broke down, we got snowed out on one day and another day the wind was so bad in my face that I couldn't move. But other than that I'm picking up over up to about 25 miles a day now. Terry ran about 25 miles a day, 40 kilometers or so, for 143 days and he covered over 5,000 kilometers until he had to cut his run short in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Yesterday I was running and I had noticed a little bit of hardness in breathing. I decided I had to go see the doctor. Originally I had primary cancer in my knee three and a half years ago and We've got to go home and try and be some more treatment. But all I can say is if there's any way I can get out there again and finish it, I will.

If you are a Canadian of a certain age, you will remember watching that news conference and watching Terry Fox break down as he talked about what he was not able to do in that moment. He never did finish the run, but he asked his family and fellow Canadians to continue his journey. And we did. 45 years after the Marathon of Hope, the Terry Fox Run lives on and the millions of children who run in annual fundraisers to schools across this country and actually right around the world. Since 1980, his foundation has raised almost a billion dollars for cancer research. Terry's family has been a huge part of this. Right now, his younger brother, Darryl Fox, is riding across Canada to raise money for cancer research.

The Ride for Hope started in Vancouver earlier this month. Terry's older brother, Fred, joined the ride for a few days. He is in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Fred, good morning. Good morning, Matt. Nice to speak with you. It's good to talk to you. What was it like to be out on the road with your

brother, Darrell, given everything that that means and 45 years later, how people are still thinking about Terry. You know, it was an awesome couple of days, starting on June 9th when they left Terry Fox Plaza in Vancouver at BC Play Stadium and followed the low heat highway onto Highway 3, the Crow's Nest Highway. And when they started those climbs, watching them the first couple of days and climbing

through the Cascade Mountains was amazing. But as Dar Darrell would probably say, the struggle of getting up those climbs was nothing compared to what Terry was doing 45 years ago. I was in St. John's, Newfoundland just a couple of weeks ago and went down to Mile Zero, which is the marker where Terry put his leg into the ocean. There is the memorial there and the statue. You ran from mile zero to City Hall in St. John's earlier this year. Tell me about that. Yeah we were there. I had the fortunate opportunity to be there on April 12th, the 45th anniversary when Terry started his run and to run up

Ten Front Street. The first 200 yards of Terry's run was straight uphill and he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. And to make our way down Duckworth to City Hall was amazing to follow those same footsteps Terry took. But the difference of the run that I did with volunteers was we were picking up people along the way. And one of the groups we picked up were cancer researchers who work at Munn University and it was really amazing

to be able to do that on that day. Tell me a little bit about this run for hope and what the idea for it is. As I said, people not just here in Canada but around world, continue to do Terry Fox runs. Why did you want to do this? And this isn't a run, this is a ride. Yeah, it's a 45th anniversary, and every five years or so, when we're celebrating an anniversary,

we try to come up with different events. Daryl's wanted to do this. He's been a cycling advocate since we were kids. Terry and I always cycled, and Darrell's been doing it at a pretty high level for many years and wanted to see if we could do a fundraising event cycling right across Canada. And there's eight or seven other riders originally. At the start was eight riders with him and fundraising with the fundraising for cancer research with the goal of raising a million dollars and they're pretty darn close right now.

So, you know, seven other riders who have all connections to, you know, somebody who they know has had cancer. What are the memories that this is bringing up for you and watching your brother do this given what your other brother did? Well, yeah, you know, just knowing, you know, Terry, Terry wanted to make a difference.

Um, he wanted to impact cancer research and, uh, it wasn't about Terry Fox. And, and, uh, I think Darrell would say this isn't about him. It's about, uh, all of those who, uh, have gone through their own cancer journey and, and are doing that today. And that's what keeps them going. And I know that all the cyclists that Darrell's with, that's their motivation is somebody that they know that's been touched by cancer.

And the impact that what Terry did 45 years ago is amazing. And that's what the most important part of this is, is the money that that's been raised over 45 years ago was amazing. And that's what the most important part of this is, is the money that's been raised over 45 years has made a huge difference to so many lives. You went out with Terry a couple of times, back in 1980, when he was out on the road. What did you learn about your brother then? Well, yeah, I had the chance to be with him

for two or three days when he arrived in Toronto and ran with him down University Avenue to City Hall. And 10,000 people there at Nathan Phillips Square, it was amazing. And I saw Terry when he left, we're all pretty quiet. And Terry, at that point, from the time he left St. John's to arrive in Toronto, he had grown a lot in his speaking ability and sharing why he was running and saw that come out in Terry. But also, when I was with him in Northern Ontario near Wawa, saw that determination, that sacrifice in every step that he was taking. It was amazing to watch every single day and trying to figure out how he was doing it every day. Is drinking raw milk safe like RFK Junior suggests? Can you reduce a glucose spike if you eat your

food in quote-unquote the right order? I'm registered dietitian Abby Sharp. I host a nutrition myth-busting podcast called Bite Back with Abby Sharp. And those are just some of the questions I tackle with qualified experts on my show. On Bite Back, my goal is to help listeners create a pleasurable relationship with food, their body, and themselves, which in my opinion, is the fundamental secret to good health.

Listen to Bite Back wherever you get your podcasts. Did you, did you understand how he was doing it every day? I mean, you talked about tens of thousands of people in Toronto, but there were parts of that run where there weren't people out on the road, where people weren't particularly supportive, where as we heard the conditions were awful and he had to gut it out. Did you understand or have you been able to understand how he was able to pull this off? No, no, not at all. And you know, our family, all of us, whether it's Darrell or Terry or our younger sister Judy and

I, we've all been very competitive through our, our younger years and today and still do, you know, try to stay active and I get out there and, and try to get out for a run and I've done a few marathons and it's a question we ask all the time, how did he do it on an artificial leg at that time designed for walking? And how did he, like as you said, get it out every single day, climbing those hills, not only through Newfoundland, but in Northern Ontario every single day. We don't know, but Terry had a very high pain threshold and he was in pain

possibly every single day. But what kept him going is knowing and believing that if he ever quit, he'd be letting so many people down. How do you make sense of the kind of impact that he had and the impact that he had on people in particular? I mean, your family, ordinary family, right? Your dad was a switcher at CNRail. Your mom's a hairdresser.

He always said that he was just an ordinary guy. And yet the response and the impact that he has had on people is anything but ordinary. How do you understand that? No, it's true. And we still think that way today. Terry, Terry would, I, and when I speak at schools, I say this to young students all the time that Terry believed he was only a,

an average ordinary kid growing up in Port Coquitlam and that he had to work harder than anyone. And, uh, I think when Terry was running every single day and people would get up early and be on the side of the highway at seven in the morning waiting for Terry to run by through their community. They saw that honesty, that integrity, that Terry wasn't doing it for himself. It wasn't about Terry Fox. And I think that's why we're still doing this today. He's impacted so many people, inspired people to do what they can to overcome their own challenges every day. It doesn't have to be cancer, but in so many other ways, Terry's inspired so many. Are you surprised that this is still going on?

I mean, one of the things I'd heard was after his death and the run started shortly thereafter, that folks told your mom that these would only last for a few years, right? That people would eventually forget who he was. That this was a nice thing for now, but this was not going to be a thing that would last. Yeah, and I don't think we're surprised anymore. It's 45 years, but you're right. That's what people were telling our parents,

that it would only last a few years. But it's been Canadians. It's been parents, grandparents, teachers last a few years. But it's been Canadians, it's been parents, grandparents, teachers, so many volunteers, people who saw Terry in 1980, maybe not in person, but on TV, on CBC news, and that wanted to keep this thing going. And that's why it's going today, not only here in Canada, but in close to 30 countries around the world. And the common denominator is we've all been touched by cancer in some way. And we all are working so hard to getting Terry's gold to the finish line.

There's a purity that exists around this and that came from your mom as well, right? She was really adamant not to commercialize Terry's name. He's not selling toilet paper and cans of beans or something like that. There is something that is pure about who Canadians see him as, right? Yeah, that was Terry. Of course, Terry was wearing Adidas running shoes and the Camp Rides van that they slept in was a Ford van, but that was Terry. That's what Terry wanted. He didn't want anyone to benefit from his name, his image, what he was doing. And when he passed, and again, Canadians wanted to keep this going. That was our mom who had to hold firm on so many

things over the years when it came to the Terry Fox Run. And that's why today there's no corporate name attached to the Terry Fox Run. And it was so important. And I think companies that we work with today appreciate that. They respect that.

And it's something that we'll continue to do forever. You speak to kids across the country. Um, and I just wonder what you tell them about possibility and what is possible. Yeah, it's, it's how I tell them and I speak to them about how Terry believed that. Terry truly believed that anything is possible

if you try and And I give him examples of when he was in grade eight and trying out for the basketball team and coach telling him that, you know, maybe you should try the cross country team or the wrestling team and through hard work and determination, eventually, you know, his last year at junior high, he was a captain and one of the starting guards. And, uh, but that was through effort, hard work, never giving up. And, uh, that it doesn't matter who you are or what you're, you feel your, your limitations are, uh, a lot,

hard work goes a long way and that's who Terry Fox was. This ride is going to go coast to coast. You have been out for a couple of times. Are you going to get back on the bike before, uh, Darrell makes it to the Atlantic? Yeah, I don't, don't, I don't think so. No, um, I won't get there, but, um, I know there's so many people in every major location that they're

going through. Um, you know, people will be there, other riders, local cyclists, they're leaving, uh, Winnipeg this morning in about an hour, I believe, and already riding over 225 kilometers a day. So there'll be people on the way, all the way to Newfoundland, supporting them and joining them and from experienced riders to kids as well, trying to join them. But it's amazing. And that's kind of how the reception that Terry received

as he was making his way west, through the maritime provinces, Quebec and Ontario, people would join Terry and run with them and support them as well. This is just last point. It's such an amazing family initiative, right? I mean, the work, not just to keep his name alive, but the fact that you're all still doing this work

for that greater cause that he was involved in. Tell me a little bit about that. You know, again, it goes back to our mom. You know, mom losing a child at a young age, and that's not supposed to happen. You know, you lose, you know. You're supposed to go before your children. So it was her mission to continue this. But it's not really our family. I'll be my mom for a moment here. It's not us. It's so many people in Canada that have kept

us going through the Terry Fox Run and other events, fundraising events for cancer research that they do. And we're here to protect Terry's name and share his story and be proud of what Terry accomplished in 1980 and how he's impacted so many lives over those years. And that's why that's our motivation to be involved but this doesn't happen without so many people who work at the Terry Fox Foundation but also give of their time to organize Terry Fox runs and fundraise like these writers are doing getting very close to raising $1 million for cancer research as they leave Winnipeg this morning. Fred it's good to talk to you about this. Thanks so much.

Thank you, Matt. Take care. Thank you for the opportunity. Fred Fox is the brother of Terry Fox. His younger brother, Darryl Fox, is crossing the country on a bicycle to raise money for cancer research, marking the 45th anniversary of Terry's Marathon of Hope. This has been The Current Podcast. You can hear our show Monday to Friday on CBC Radio

One at 8.30 a.m. at all time zones. You can also listen online at cbc.ca slash the current or on the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening. For more CBC podcasts go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.